7 A bridge to the outside world Literary translation in Indonesia, 1950-1965 Maya H.T. Liem - Brill
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
7
A bridge to the outside world
Literary translation in Indonesia, 1950-1965
Maya H.T. Liem
Literary translation has played an important role in the cultural
development of new states.1 In the case of Indonesia in the period
between 1950 and 1965, matters related to culture figured promi-
nently in the efforts of both government and civil society to con-
struct a national identity for Indonesia as a modern, independent
nation free from Dutch colonialism. Both internally and in the
eyes of the world at large, cultural identity was seen as the mark of
a strong and established state, and in the building of culture, the
development of a national literature was an area that attracted sig-
nificant attention. Models of literary expression were often drawn
from foreign sources, and this meant that a large number of Indo-
nesian writers found themselves engaged in the business of liter-
ary translation. It is noteworthy that throughout this period, the
Indonesian government itself took no active role in sponsoring
literary translation, leaving this aspect of cultural traffic between
Indonesia and the outside world entirely in the hands of writer/
translators as individuals.
The Cold War context in which the literary translations of this
period took place meant that translation was not only an opening
to the outside world on the part of Indonesian writer/translators
themselves. It was also a means by which foreign powers were able
to spread the cultural principles and ideologies that underlay their
attempts to gain political advantage and influence in the newly
emerging states of the post-war era. As Hong Liu (2006:186-91)
has shown in his study of the PRC’s cultural diplomacy towards
Indonesia between 1949 and 1965, the government of the PRC
1 I wish to thank Koesalah Soebagyo Toer for his generous assistance, his constant availability
for interviews and his provision of additional information during the writing of this essay. I am
also deeply grateful to Shannu (Tan To or Zhan Hu) and Winarta for their willingness to be
interviewed for this project.
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
channelled large numbers of books (including works of literature)
and other printed material to Indonesia during this period, as part
of its propagation of the success of the Chinese model of revolu-
tion and national development. At times the Chinese government
involved Indonesian writer/translators in the work of translation
into Indonesian, although most translated works came directly
from Chinese translators in Beijing, adding to the efficiency with
which the Chinese model was made available to the Indonesian
reading public. Other prominent Cold War actors, such as the
Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites and Western pow-
ers like the United States, Great Britain and the former colonizing
power the Netherlands, also made use of translation of literature
and other types of reading material to promote their political and
cultural interests in newly-independent Indonesia.
In this essay, I aim to survey the world of literary translation
in post-independence Indonesia, showing how individual transla-
tors with different backgrounds and motivations approached the
production of translated works of literature. As the essay shows,
whether consciously or not, these individual translators were not
only engaged in producing models of creative writing for modern
Indonesian writers; they were also building frameworks for com-
munication between Indonesia and the outside world within the
workings of Cold War cultural diplomacy. I begin with an explora-
tion of the overall context of literary translation, in order to con-
struct a picture of the networks, policies and ideologies that lay
behind the production of literary translations. I then move to a
discussion of the work of two prominent translators of the period,
Trisno Sumardjo and Koesalah Soebagyo Toer. Trisno Sumardjo
(1916-1969) was a painter and a creative writer who was an adher-
ent of the principles of universal humanism (see Keith Foulcher
in this volume), but he was also a renowned translator, best known
for his translations of Shakespeare. Koesalah Soebagyo Toer (b.
1935), younger brother of the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, is
known for his translations of novels and short stories from Russia,
Rumania and Czechoslovakia. He began to study Russian in the
late 1950s, first in Jakarta and later in the Soviet Union.
The questions to be addressed in this essay include the types
of works chosen for translation, the methods of selection, per-
sonal motivations and the networks that supported the process of
selection. Also taken into consideration are the production, distri-
bution and reception of translations both domestically and inter-
nationally.
Apart from the two translators selected for special attention
here, there were also a significant number of other professional lit-
164
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
erary translators in Indonesia during the 1950-1965 period, includ-
ing Asrul Sani, Siti Nuraini, Muhamad Radjab and Toto Sudarto
Bachtiar. The scope of this essay does not permit a comprehensive
treatment of all these translators and their works, but I hope that
by choosing to focus on Trisno Sumardjo and Koesalah Soebagyo
Toer, two prominent translators with differing orientations, I will
be able to give a preliminary indication of the role played by trans-
lators and their works in constructing a cultural bridge between
Indonesia and the rest of the world during the Cold War period.
before 1950
Translations from foreign literature have been part of modern
Indonesian culture since the Dutch colonial period. Individual
translators, drawn from the ranks of specialists and government
officials, writers, journalists, teachers, or those who worked in a
number of these professions at the same time, began to emerge
in colonial society from the 1870s. The motivations that inspired
these early translators were varied, from a desire to introduce indig-
enous readers to the outside world through Western European
perspectives, to educative intentions or pure entertainment. Most
of the earliest translations were adventure stories, such as Hikajat
Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe), a rendition of the eighteenth-
century classic by Daniel Defoe, Kisah pelajaran nachoda Bontekoe
(The voyage of captain Bontekoe), Von de Wall’s adaptation of
the journal Bontekoe kept of his voyage to the East Indies in 1618-
1625, and the works of Jules Verne. At the end of the nineteenth
century more politically motivated translations began to appear,
such as F. Wiggers’s translation of Melati van Java’s Dari boedak
sampe djadi radja (From slave to king), which showed more sympa-
thy for a Javanese rebel than the Dutch authorities he opposed.2
It was also at this time that a number of Sino-Malay translators
began to make their presence felt in the publishing world of the
Dutch East Indies. They began with translations from Chinese, but
increasingly moved to translations from English and French litera-
ture. As was the case with the pioneering translators of the 1870s,
2 Jedamski 2009:173-5. See also Jedamski (2002), for a discussion of translations and adapta-
tions based on Robinson Crusoe, The Count of Monte Cristo and Sherlock Holmes, which were highly
popular in the Dutch East Indies from the end of the nineteenth century. According to Jedamski
(2002:21), these translations encouraged discussion of issues related to individual responsibility,
changes in morality and social norms and the position of indigenous societies in the colonial
world.
165
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
they worked as individuals, establishing links with Sino-Malay maga-
zines and the increasing number of publishing houses being estab-
lished by Indies Chinese entrepreneurs (Jedamski 2009:183-8). The
selection of works for translation was mostly based on commercial
considerations, but the educative potential of a particular text in
the transformation of the Dutch East Indies into a modern society
also came into consideration.
With the establishment of the colonial government’s Com-
missie voor de Volkslectuur in 1908 (which in 1917 became
Balai Poestaka), competition ensued between the translators
who worked for Chinese commercial publishers and those who
worked for the government bureau, who were mostly indigenous.
The government translators were not only full-time employees
who received a regular stipend, but they were also given in-house
training in the work of translation. They produced translations of
works selected by the Dutch directors of the bureau in line with
the political interests of the colonial government. Meanwhile, the
independent publishers, whose loyalty to the colonial authorities
was suspect, were subjected to strict supervision, which frequently
resulted in their sidelining in the marketplace, or even their clo-
sure. This meant that as time went on, the business of translation
passed increasingly into the hands of the Dutch East Indies gov-
ernment, even though the majority of the translators themselves
were drawn from indigenous Indonesian society.
after 1950
After Independence, Balai Pustaka came under the authority
of the Republic of Indonesia, with part of its staff continuing
on as employees of the Indonesian government. According to
H.B. Jassin (1984:27), by 1947 there was discontent among staff
over pay rates, with a number of staff who worked on the Balai
Pustaka magazine Pantja Raja (1945-1947) resigning and going
in search of alternative employment.3 Others left because they
3 In a letter to Aoh K. Hadimadja (25-3-1947), Jassin wrote that among others, Sukmono,
Nurdin, Markum and Pak Darma had resigned from Balai Pustaka in protest at the levels of pay
offered by the institution. (‘Markum akan pergi pula, karena tidak bisa hidup dengan gaji R 150
yang sepuluh hari sudah habis. [...] Pak Darma pun sudah pindah kerja ke Merdeka kembali,
di mana dia digaji R 350, meninggalkan yang R 70 di Balai Pustaka.’ ‘Markum is going as well,
because he can’t live on a monthly wage of Rp 150, which doesn’t last ten days. [...] Pak Darma
has already gone back to Merdeka, where he is on a wage of Rp 350 in contrast to the Rp 70 he
was getting at Balai Pustaka.’)
166
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
were unwilling to support an institution that was a relic of the
colonial system. Independent art and culture magazines were
springing up everywhere at this time, with publications from
the revolutionary period, like Bintang Merah (1945-1965), Pem-
bangoenan (1945-1947), Mimbar Indonesia (1947-1966), Siasat
(1947-1961), and Mutiara (1949-1950), followed in the early
1950s by other magazines like Budaya (1950-1964), Basis (1951-
1982), Duta Suasana (1951-1956), Konfrontasi (1954-1960), Zaman
Baru (1955-1965), and at the end of 1950s – early 1960s by Pan-
dji Masjarakat (1959-2001), Sastra (1961-1969 ) and Gema Islam
(1962-1967). With the advent of these outlets, all of them cen-
tred in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, intellectuals, artists, writers and
translators were able to work completely independent of gov-
ernment interference and make their own individual contribu-
tions to the formation of a post-colonial Indonesian culture and
identity.4
Balai Pustaka made a serious effort to revitalize itself, publish-
ing its own new journal Indonesia, which, like other journals of
the time made space available for translated short stories.5 But
Balai Pustaka no longer enjoyed the pre-eminent market posi-
tion it had occupied before 1945. It continued to publish literary
translations, but in far smaller numbers than during the colonial
period. It now had to compete with private publishers like Pem-
bangunan and Jajasan Pembaruan, which, in the eyes of many
writers and translators were more aggressive business operations
and more attuned to the financial situation of their authors and
translators. Pembangunan, which came into existence in 1940 as
Opbouw-Pembangoenan, was one of the most important Indo-
nesian publishing houses of the 1950s. Known as Pembangu-
nan from 1949, it was a regular publisher of both classical and
modern literature.6 Jajasan Pembaruan was established in 1951
and was affiliated to the Partai Rakjat Indonesia (PRI, Indone-
4 For detailed studies on the content of two of these magazines, including their role as out-
lets for the publication of literary translation, see the contributions by Els Bogaerts and Keith
Foulcher to this volume.
5 The journal Indonesia (originally named Indonesia, Madjalah Kebudajaan) was published
by Balai Pustaka from 1949-1950, then subsequently by Lembaga Kebudajaan Indonesia
from June-July 1950-1952. From 1952, the journal Indonesia was published by the Badan
Musjawarat Kebudajaan Nasional (BMKN, Council for Deliberations on National Culture).
See further ‘Notes on Indonesian journals and newspapers cited in this volume’ at this back
of this book.
6 In a letter to Trisno Sumardjo in 1949, Jassin (1984:61) suggested that Sumardjo send his
translations of Shakespeare either to Balai Pustaka or Opbouw[-Pembangoenan] which was also
seeking translators for the classics. One of its directors was Soedjatmoko.
167
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
sian People’s Party).7 It was established to promote the transla-
tion and circulation of ‘Marxist’ and ‘leftist’ books in Indonesia,
and included among its staff four Indonesian and foreign trans-
lators whose job was to translate from English and Dutch, and
occasionally other languages as well (Ibarruri Sudharsono 2009:
704-5). Its publications included translations of works by Fried-
rich Engels, Maxim Gorky, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Lin Ji-
Tjou, Kim Il Sung; translations of foreign literature by Boris
Polewoi, Maxim Gorky, N. H. Krupskaya; as well as works by D.N.
Aidit and LEKRA writers like H.R. Bandaharo, Bachtiar Siagian,
and Zubir A.A. It had bookshops in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and
Surabaya, and agents in Bandung and Medan. Other shops in
Jakarta also sold its books.8
In Jassin’s view, literary life in Jakarta at the end of the 1940s
and the beginning of the 1950s was growing apace.9 His evalua-
tion was based on the healthy growth of new magazines, a broad-
ening and deepening cultural knowledge, a growing number of
new young writers and a standard of writing that was ‘no cause
for embarrassment’.10 But the growth of literary life was taking
place in highly unfavourable economic conditions. The only writ-
ers who were in receipt of a monthly income were those lucky
enough to secure positions on the editorial boards of the new
magazines. Even they sometimes worked on more than one pub-
lication, and those with a talent for writing or translating had to
keep up a constant output of publications to be able to fulfil their
basic needs, which at the time required an income of Rp 700 per
month.11 Honoraria offered by newspapers and magazines at this
time varied considerably. In the mid-1950s a chief editor received
around Rp 230 per month, while payment for a short story or a
7 Although it published work by left-wing authors, it was not associated with the Lembaga
Kebudajaan Rakjat (LEKRA, Institute of People’s Culture), which had its own publications divi-
sion (Rhoma D.A. Yuliantri and Muhidin Dahlan 2008:465, 470).
8 See ‘Jajasan “Pembaruan”’, Harian Rakjat, 1-1-1960. Pramoedya Ananta Toer published a
positive evaluation of Jajasan Pembaruan in Harian Rakjat, 19-3-1955.
9 In this respect, Jassin disagreed with Soedjatmoko, who argued that Indonesian literature
at this time was facing a crisis (Ajip Rosidi 2008:108-9). See also Hong Liu (2006:182-6) for an
analysis of the ‘crisis in literature’ as part of the search for a national cultural identity among
Indonesian intellectuals.
10 Jassin 1984:28-9. Jassin used the words ‘no cause for embarrassment’ (‘tidak memalukan’) in
relation to an essay by Ida Nasution, but he also held the view that the decline of the magazine
Pudjangga Baru did not mean a concomitant decline in the quality of Indonesian literature. He
believed that good quality works would continue to surface, indicating the strength of the new
Indonesian literary tradition (Jassin 1984:12).
11 Ajip Rosidi (2008:139) writes that when he began working at Balai Pustaka in 1955, his
monthly honorarium was Rp 230, against a minimum monthly requirement of Rp 700.
168
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
translation varied between Rp 40 and Rp 200.12 In the case of
book length translations of literature, the translator normally
received 10% of income from sales (Jassin 1984:49).
As these figures indicate, the writing of literature at this time
was no basis for financial security. Readers, the government and
publishers all paid little attention to creative writing. Under such
conditions, Jassin’s description of a thriving literary environment in
post-war Jakarta seems somewhat surprising.
Throughout the 1950s, literary translators seem to have
received little acknowledgement of their work. Except in the case
of translators who were also prominent writers and poets, their
names were often omitted from their published work. Acknowl-
edged translators tend to be figures such as Pramoedya Ananta
Toer, Trisno Sumardjo, H.B. Jassin, Mochtar Lubis, Asrul Sani,
Siti Nuraini, Mohamad Rajab, Ramadhan K.H., Sitor Situmorang,
Usmar Ismail, Hamka, Bahrum Rangkuti,13 who are known pri-
marily as creative writers and essayists. In the mid-1950s, a num-
ber of writers and translators voiced their concern at the lack
of understanding of their work and the value of literary transla-
tion for independent Indonesia. In 1955, the prominent writer
and translator Pramoedya Ananta Toer reiterated the dissatisfac-
tion he had expressed at the 1952 National Culture Congress in
Bandung concerning the government’s neglect of a call by writ-
ers for protection of the rights of authors and translators.14 Three
years on, Pramoedya stated, the situation still had not improved,
even though the government’s own Council for Deliberations
on National Culture (BMKN, Badan Musjawarat Kebudajaan
Nasional) had undertaken to award prizes for the best literary
works (including translations). In 1956 Koesalah Soebagyo Toer
expressed the view that the work of translators was a significant
contribution to Indonesian society’s understanding and familiarity
with the thought worlds of other nations. In his view, translation
was an art, requiring not only a mastery of language but an ability
to move between two different worlds. A good translator needed
training, and deserved the same level of recognition as that given
to writers of original prose and poetry (Koesalah Soebagyo Toer
1956).
12 Ajip Rosidi (2008:122) notes that the new magazine Prosa offered Rp 200 to a recognized
author for a short story, whether original or in translation. This was a large sum, compared to
what other magazines offered, like Siasat’s Rp 40-50 and Mimbar Indonesia’s Rp 75. Only Star
Weekly offered Rp 200.
13 On Bahrum Rangkuti and Hamka, see further Hairus Salim’s contribution to this vol-
ume.
14 See ‘Pramoedya Ananta Toer tentang Jajasan Pembaruan’, Harian Rakjat, 19-3-1955.
169
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
Publishers too paid little attention to translation. Balai Pustaka
no longer regarded translation as a significant part of its output,
and among all Indonesian publishers only Jajasan Pembaruan had
recognized the rights of translators and the importance of trans-
lations from world literature, regardless of length. For example,
it had supported Pramoedya through his 717-page translation of
Gorky’s Mother.15 It was also Jajasan Pembaruan’s practice, unlike
that of other publishers, to approach translators directly with spe-
cific requests for translation, rather than waiting for translators
to offer their work for publication. For example, on one occasion
marking the anniversary of the founding of LEKRA, Jajasan Pem-
baruan’s representative Samanjaya (Oei Hai Djoen) approached
Shannu (Tan To or Zhan Hu in Mandarin), asking for suggestions
for a translation from Mandarin. Shannu – who claims to be the
only Indonesian translator at the time who could undertake liter-
ary translation from Mandarin – suggested Jang Mo’s The song of
youth, which later appeared under the title of Njanjian remadja in
1961.16
Similar criticisms to those of Pramoedya were expressed by a
reviewer of an exhibition of translations from world literature that
was held in the STICUSA building in Jakarta in February 1956
(Pameran kesusastraan dunia 1956). Praising the decision to stage
the exhibition, the writer of the review expressed disappointment
at the small number of works of world literature that had been
translated into Indonesian (and published as books), which was
said to total no more than 120 books. Translations available were
only the works of minor writers, with the great figures of world lit-
erature like Goethe, Schiller, Nietzsche, Dante and modern writers
like Thomas Mann still unknown in Indonesian. The reason for
this situation was the neglect of Indonesian publishers, the major-
ity of whom had no systematic programs of translation and were
content to leave the selection of books for translation to the initia-
tive of the translators themselves. This meant that in most cases,
translation was confined to light reading that was easy and quick
to translate, and, from the publishers’ point of view, most likely
to attract high sales figures. This was the situation that provoked
Pramoedya’s admiration for Jajasan Pembaruan, as the only Indo-
15 Pramoedya also translated a novel by the Russian writer Boris Polewoi, which appeared
as the 440 page Kisah manusia sedjati (A genuine human being) (see ‘Pramoedya Ananta Toer
tentang Jajasan Pembaruan’ di Harian Rakjat, 19-3-1955). According to Jajasan Pembaruan,
1000 copies of the translation were sold in two weeks, despite the inflated price of Rp 30 as a
result of paper shortages (‘Jajasan “Pembaruan”’ Harian Rakjat, 1-1-1960).
16 Shannu, written communication, 2-2-2009.
170
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
nesian publisher prepared to commit funds to the translation of
the works of major writers like Aragon, Camus and Gorky, regard-
less of length.
Overall, it appears that during the 1950s writers and transla-
tors took great interest in translating works of world literature into
Indonesian. However the interest and enthusiasm of individual
translators were often stymied by the low level of support they
received from publishers, cultural organizations and the govern-
ment. The only consistently available channel for the publication
of literary translation was the proliferating number of indepen-
dent journals managed by groups of writers and intellectuals with
differing ideological and cultural outlooks. This situation appears
to have been the case throughout the 1950s, and to have remained
so until after 1965.
foreign cultural diplomacy and the distribution
of literature
If Indonesian writers and translators in general felt that they
gained no benefit from the internal cultural policies of their
government, cultural diplomacy between Indonesia and the rest
of the world at the time of the Cold War fostered their interest
in world literature through an efficient system of book distribu-
tion from foreign publishers. Prominent Cold War actors like the
PRC, the Soviet Union and the socialist states of Eastern Europe,
and the Western capitalist bloc made up of the United States and
the countries of Western Europe, all made use of art and culture
(including literature) to raise their profiles and develop friendly
relations with other countries at this time. In the case of the PRC,
Nicolai Volland has written that the government made strenuous
efforts to promote socialist principles and ideology through lit-
erature, and urged well-known writers to produce new works that
advanced this cause (Volland 2008:53). As Hong Liu notes, these
works were then translated into a variety of languages for circu-
lation abroad, including in Indonesia. In the PRC, translation
was centralized through the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing,
which employed a number of local translators on its staff. Books
in Indonesian represented the second largest category of its for-
eign language publications (Liu 2006:189-90). A similar situation
prevailed in the Soviet Union after 1953, with the move to a more
aggressive promotion of communist propaganda both at home
and abroad after the death of Stalin in March of that year (Clews
171
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
1964:119; Ibarruri Sudharsono 2009:703-12). Beginning at this
time, a large number of books in Russian were translated into
a variety of other languages, especially English, by state publish-
ers such as Izdatelstvo literatuy na inostrannikh yazikah (Publishing
House for Literature in Foreign Languages), Knizhny Mir (pub-
lisher and bookstore) and Progress Publishers in Moscow (pub-
lisher and bookstore).17 Distribution of books overseas was carried
out through networks such as embassies, non-government organi-
zations working with the governments of socialist countries, uni-
versities and particular bookshops. Books from the Soviet Union,
mostly translated into English, reached Indonesians through a
number of channels, including the Jajasan Pembaruan bookshops
in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya and their agents.18 Transla-
tions from the PRC were distributed through the International
Book Company in Beijing, the PRC Embassy in Jakarta, book-
shops owned by Chinese Indonesians, and affiliates of the Par-
tai Komunis Indonesia (PKI, Indonesian Communist Party) (Liu
1995:218).
The Indonesian government took a relaxed attitude towards
the distribution networks for books from all overseas countries,
especially when free copies were made available to government
departments.19 This meant that throughout the 1950-1965 period
Indonesia remained wide open to the influences of ideas coming
from abroad in the form of literary translation, especially where
the socialist countries were involved.
the role of institutions
Although their influence was limited, institutions representing
overseas literary networks in Indonesia also played a part in encour-
aging translation into Indonesian, especially in the early 1950s.
17 Clews (1964:127) notes that from publications in 11 different languages intended for
export in 1956, the languages of translation grew to 16 in 1958 and 25 in 1960. The number
of books exported grew from 17,892,265 in 1956 to 40,113,400 in 1960. According to official
figures only 4 titles in Indonesian were exported to Indonesia, a total of 34,500 books. The
names of Russian publishers quoted here were supplied by Koesalah S. Toer in written com-
munication, 27-9-2008.
18 Harian Rakjat regularly included Jajasan Pembaruan advertisements listing English transla-
tions of Soviet titles. These included works by Gorky, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev and Griba-
chov, among others.
19 Liu 1995:218. See also ‘507 buku pengetahuan dari Sovjet untuk Indonesia’, Harian Rakjat,
22-1-1960.
172
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
sticusa
Although official relations between Indonesia and the Neth-
erlands came to an end with the acknowledgement of inde-
pendence in 1949, Dutch cultural affairs continued to be
represented in independent Indonesia through the activities
of STICUSA (Stichting voor Culturele Samenwerking, Founda-
tion for Cultural Co-operation) (see the contribution by Lies-
beth Dolk to this volume). As noted above, in February 1956,
STICUSA held an exhibition in Jakarta of works of literature
translated into Indonesian and Dutch, entitled ‘World Litera-
ture in Translation’. The exhibition aimed to draw attention to
the range of translations published in books available in the two
languages at that time, even though STICUSA itself had played
no part in their production. In his review of the exhibition H.B.
Jassin (1956:12) noted that the number of literary translations
from Dutch into Indonesian lagged far behind those from Eng-
lish, French and Russian. The Dutch poets of the [18]80s move-
ment, De Tachtigers, who had been popular with the Pujangga
Baru generation in pre-war Indonesia, remained untranslated,
and there were only a few translations of poems by the mod-
ernist poets of the 1930s, Slauerhoff and Marsman, the work of
the revolution era poet, Chairil Anwar. The Dutch Indies writer
Edgar du Perron was minimally represented,20 as was the Flem-
ish writer Willem Elschot, through Idrus’s translation of his
short novel Kaas (Cheese). Even the great nineteenth-century
classic Max Havelaar, which had been a favourite of the pre-war
Indonesian nationalists, was only known in Indonesian through
Haksan Wirasutisna’s translation of a single extract, the famous
story of Saidjah and Adinda. As Jassin (1956:17) pointed out,
Dutch, along with English, German and (minimally) French, was
a source language for translations into Indonesian, with transla-
tions of literature by writers from Russia, China, India, Arabia,
Italy and Spain all based on their Dutch language versions. In
this way, Dutch did play a part in introducing Indonesians to
world literature, though Dutch literature itself remained under-
represented in Indonesian translation.
This situation appears to have changed little in the decade after
1956. A list of publications between 1945 and 1965 issued in Jakarta
by the Indonesian Publishers’ Association, IKAPI (IKAPI 1965)
20 Only one compilation of his short stories was translated by Sitor Situmorang under the title
Menentukan sikap (Determining a stand) (1956) published by Van Hoeve.
173
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
suggests that there was no significant change in the number of
literary translations in the period leading up to 1965. Throughout
the period, the source languages for literary translation remained
primarily English, Dutch, German and French, even though as
noted above, Jang Mo’s The song of youth appeared in 1961 as Njan-
jian remadja, and a volume of short stories by Lu Xun appeared
in 1963, both translated from the original Mandarin by Shannu.
The former was published by Jajasan Pembaruan, and the latter
by LEKRA.
Given the large number of translations of Chinese literature
into Indonesian by the Foreign Languages Bureau in Beijing, it
should not be surprising that there was little translation from
Mandarin in Indonesia itself. In the case of Russian, the ready
availability of English translations of Russian literature also obvi-
ated the need for translations from the original language into
Indonesian. In fact the only Indonesian to study Russian with a
view to undertaking literary translation in the 1960-1965 period
was Koesalah Soebagyo Toer. As he did not complete his transla-
tions of Russian literature from original sources in Moscow before
1965, these did not appear in Indonesian before the outbreak of
the 1965 coup.21
foreign embassies
In the early post-independence period, foreign delegations played
an important role in channelling information about culture and
cultural products between Indonesia and their home countries.
In most cases, foreign embassies employed their own translat-
ing teams, most of whose work involved the translation of gen-
eral information documents.22 A number of embassies published
their own magazines, as well as brochures for free distribution.
Some examples of general information magazines published by
foreign embassies in Indonesia are American Miscellany, Pemandan-
21 Koesalah Soebagyo Toer, written and oral communication, 26-5-2008 and 11-2-2009.
22 For example, Koesalah Soebagyo Toer, who worked as a translator in the Czechoslovakian
embassy in Jakarta between 1957 and 1959, translated items such as descriptions of the city
of Prague, Charles University, Hitler’s razing of the town of Lidice after the attempted assas-
sination of a Gestapo commander, trade between Czechoslovakia and the rest of the world,
the composer Bedrich Smetana, a teacher of Indonesian in Prague named Miroslav Oplt, and
Czech ceramics. Editorials from Indonesian newspapers like Pedoman, Harian Rakjat, and Duta
Masjarakat were also translated into English (Koesalah Soebagyo Toer, written communication,
31-5-2008).
174
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
gan Inggris, India Panorama, Hongaria Baru, Tjekoslowakia Sekarang,
and Negeri Soviet.23 In general, none of these publications included
translations of literature. In this connection, the role of foreign
embassies was confined to the provision of libraries open to the
general public, or as distributors of books translated and pub-
lished in their home countries.24
Foreign embassies were also active during this period in facili-
tating links with Indonesian artists and making recommendations
to their governments concerning the issuing of invitations to visit
their countries. In the case of embassies from socialist states,
there were also instances of involvement in literary translation
projects. For example, as part of an attempt to strengthen rela-
tions with Indonesian writers, the Chinese embassy undertook
the translation of works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Utuy Son-
tani and Abdul Muis into Mandarin, while the Russian embassy
supported the translation into Russian of works by Abdul Muis,
M. Dimyati, M.R. Dajoh and Pramoedya Ananta Toer.25 Indone-
sian short stories, including works by Pramoedya and Suwarsih
Djojopuspito, also appeared in Estonian translation, along with
extracts from Marah Rusli’s Sitti Nurbaya and Abdul Muis’s Sur-
opati.26 It is most likely also that a few embassies established their
own links with non-government organizations or local magazines
that were in sympathy with what was occurring in their home
countries.27 There were also Mandarin publications in Jakarta,
the weekly Chiao Hsing and the Jajasan Zamrud magazine Pelad-
jaran Bahasa Indonesia, that included discussion and examples of
23 See Alexander K. Oglobin (2009:693) for information about the Soviet propaganda system
applied in Indonesia.
24 For example, Winarta Adisubrata recalled in an interview (Jakarta, 7-12-2008) that he was
a regular borrower of books from the well-stocked library of the British Embassy in Jakarta.
On the Chinese embassy’s role in book distribution, see Hong Liu (1995:217). Rhoma D.A.
Yuliantri and Dahlan (2008:452) note that Jajasan Pembaruan was an agent for books imported
from Eastern Europe and the Communist Bloc. Embassies of these countries most likely acted
as distributors of these books.
25 Rhoma D.A. Yuliantri and Muhidin Dahlan 2008:452. Shannu (written communication,
14-2-2009) also noted the involvement of the Chinese embassy in translation from Indonesian.
According to Koesalah S. Toer (interview, Depok, 17-9-2008), two of Pramoedya’s novels, Di tepi
kali Bekasi (On the banks of the Bekasi river) and Keluarga gerilya (The guerilla family) were
translated into Russian.
26 See ‘Pramudya Ananta Tur, Suwarsih Djojopuspito, Abdul Muis di tengah rakjat Estonia’,
Harian Rakjat, 13-2-1960.
27 Liu (1995:216) notes that the embassy of the PRC established links with the Indonesia-
PRC Friendship Association. According to Koesalah Soebagyo Toer the same was true of the
Soviet embassy’s approach to the Indonesia-Soviet Cultural Relations Bureau (Badan Hubungan
Kebudajaan Indonesia-Sovjet), an independent body that sympathized with the Soviet Union
(interview, Depok, 17-9-2008).
175
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
Indonesian literature and which were distributed in the PRC as
well as in Indonesia itself.28
creative writers and professional translators
As mentioned above, the intensity with which literary translation
into Indonesian was pursued during the 1950-1965 period was
largely due to the individual efforts of authors and writers. They
were inspired by a post-colonial spirit of freedom, the will to explore
the freedom of the human spirit in an atmosphere of openness that
marked the end of the restrictions colonialism had imposed on
them. They were driven by an urge to make Indonesians familiar
with the outside world through the medium of literature, introduc-
ing the heritage of world literature and its major writers, and mak-
ing the thinking of prominent writers accessible to Indonesians who
did not read foreign languages (Koesalah Soebagyo Toer 1956).
But this spirit of freedom of exploration also involved a search for
models for a free, secure and prosperous Indonesia in the future.
In this respect, creative writers looked to translation, as much as
their own original work, as a way of conveying ideas and concepts
they regarded as important for their society. Trisno Sumardjo is an
example of those artists who struggled for creative and intellectual
freedom and physical and mental development as the basis of an
independent and prosperous nation state. By contrast, Koesalah
Soebagyo Toer is a professional translator who saw translation as a
way of conveying the ideas of the great writers from socialist coun-
tries as part of a struggle that was more concerned with social and
political change than creative freedom. For him, translation was a
part of the struggle to win freedom for the oppressed.
trisno sumardjo (1916-1969)
Trisno Sumardjo is remembered as a painter and a creative writer
as well as an art critic and a translator. He established a reputa-
28 Shannu, written communication, (2, 12, 14 and 19 February 2009). Shannu worked as a
journalist and editor for Chiao Hsing (Sadar) (under the leadership of Siauw Giok Tjhan) in
Jakarta between 1957 and 1960. During this time he wrote regularly on Indonesian art and
culture under pseudonyms including Shan and Hasanudin. See also Ibarruri Sudharsono
(2009:711-2) for information about Jajasan Kebudajaan Sadar and the journal Chiao Xing or
Chio Hsing.
176
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
tion as a translator through his translations of Shakespeare, which
began in 1950 with the publication of Hamlet by PT Pembangu-
nan, and continued right up until the serialization of his Antonius
dan Cleopatra in Indonesia Madjalah Kebudajaan between October
1961 and June 1963.29 He also translated Boris Pasternak’s Dok-
ter Zhivago (Djambatan, 1960),30 and a collection of short stories
by Edgar Allan Poe, Death and mystery, which is given the Indone-
sian title Maut dan misteri (Djambatan, 1969). At the same time,
he also published translations of many short works of fiction in
journals like Konfrontasi, Indonesia, Sastra, Kisah, Mimbar Indonesia
and Siasat. The texts he selected for translation varied widely, both
in terms of genre and geographic origin. They covered drama,
poetry, the short story and the novel, and ranged from East and
Southeast Asia (Japan, China, Vietnam, Burma, and the Philip-
pines) to Africa and the Middle East (Algeria, Turkey, Saudi Ara-
bia and Israel), India, Europe (Italy, France, Germany, England
and Russia) and the United States. The only restriction imposed
on his choice of works for translation came from his knowledge
of foreign languages, which was confined to English and Dutch.
This meant that except in the case of original writing in these lan-
guages, all his translations were based on already translated texts.
Trisno Sumardjo was one of that generation of writers who
came to maturity after the declaration of independence from
the Dutch in 1945, and who were strongly committed to ideals of
freedom. For him, this meant freedom from any kind of political
direction of the arts, and an absolute commitment to freedom of
thought and creativity. In Soekarno’s Indonesia, this commitment
led him to be a signatory of the Cultural Manifesto (Manifes Kebu-
dajaan) of 17 August 1963, which directly challenged the direc-
tion of national cultural policy in the later years of the Guided
Democracy period. Earlier, he had expressed a similar criticism of
an exhibition of [socialist] realist art, arguing that the call for art-
ists to take up the principles of [socialist] realism was a denial of
the artist’s fundamental freedom to explore the inner dimensions
of human experience (Nashar 1985:22).
29 His other Shakespeare translations are Saudagar Venezia (The merchant of Venice) (Pemban-
gunan, 1950), Julius Caesar (Pembangunan, 1951), Macbeth (Pembangunan, 1952), Manasuka
(As you like it) (Balai Pustaka, 1952), Prahara (The tempest) (Balai Pustaka, 1952), Impian di tengah
musim (A midsummer night’s dream) (Balai Pustaka, 1955) and Romeo dan Julia (Kuala Lumpur:
Oxford University Press, 1960).
30 The information provided by Ogloblin (2009:697), is rather confusing since it does not
mention that Sumardjo’s translation of the novel Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (1960) was
based on its English version, not the original Russian. The same can be said of other translations
of Russian literature by M. Radjab, M. Taslim and Pramoedya Ananta Toer.
177
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free accessTrisno Sumardjo 1952. (Pusat Dokumentasi H.B. Jassin)
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
The eclecticism of his choice of texts for translation is testi-
mony to his commitment to artistic freedom. In the introduction
to a collection of translated short stories entitled Tjerita dari Asia
Afrika (Stories from Asia Africa), published by the magazine Sastra
in 1962, he wrote that the aim of the collection was ‘to give the
reader access to the thoughts and feelings of their fellow human
beings’,31 implicitly endorsing the collection’s non-partisan politi-
cal nature and the concept of a universal humanity. At the time,
this kind of approach ran counter to the political emphasis on
solidarity with other newly independent states, but for Trisno
and those like him, the significance of the end of colonialism was
that the new climate of freedom enabled the development of ‘a
humanity that was so neglected by the colonizer’32. His concept of
solidarity was the solidarity of a common humanity between peo-
ple who shared the same destiny, the same aspirations, and the
same experience of joy and suffering. For him, literature and art
in general offered a means of knowing and experiencing human-
ity in its fullest sense.
It was on the basis of this conception of art and literature that
Trisno became a signatory of the Cultural Manifesto, at a time when
he felt that social and political pressures were impinging on his
freedom to write and speak out. Along with other signatories to the
Manifesto, he saw the document as a protest against the subordina-
tion of culture to politics and other socially-based forces (Sukito
1988). In his article Seni dan masjarakat (Art and society), Trisno
made clear that he rejected the use of art and culture as a tool of
political propaganda (Trisno Sumardjo 1960). As early as 1957, he
was one of a small number of Indonesian artists and intellectuals
to return from a visit to the People’s Republic of China with very
negative impressions of Chinese motives in inviting delegations of
overseas writers to observe the situation of writers in the PRC. In a
report of his visit (Trisno Sumardjo 1957, 1958) he wrote that there
were ‘political-psychological factors’ underlying the invitation, and
that the Chinese aim had been to ‘turn out’ new members of the
Communist Party in their home country.
Surviving examples of Trisno’s letters, as well as his published
writing, make clear that his thinking about art and literature was
already well-formed by the time Indonesian cultural political
debates reached their critical point in the late 1950s and early
31 ‘[m]enterdjemahkan tjerita-tjerita dari Asia-Afrika adalah mengantar pembatja ke hati ses-
ama manusia’ (Trisno Sumardjo 1962:15). For a further example of Trisno Sumardjo’s thinking
about art and humanity see Trisno Sumardjo 1949-50.
32 ‘[p]eri-kemanusiaan jang begitu banjak diabaikan oleh pendjadjah’ (Trisno Sumardjo 1962:15).
179
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
1960s. Between around 1933 and 1950, when he was still in Solo,
Central Java, he was already conceiving freedom of artistic expres-
sion as the freedom to explore the modern world in all its diver-
sity. His education had opened his mind to the richness of art and
literature beyond what he felt to be the confines of his immedi-
ate environment, including – from an early age – making him an
admirer of Shakespeare. In a letter to H.B. Jassin, dated 7 January
1950, he complained about the feeling of being physically and spir-
itually ‘constricted’ in the ‘hinterlands’ of Solo and Yogyakarta.33
He dreamed of coming into contact with the freedom of the mod-
ern world in Jakarta and overseas, dreams that he realized in 1950
with his move to Jakarta and a Rockefeller Foundation grant that
enabled him to make a six months’ visit to the United States and
Western Europe (London, Amsterdam, Paris and Rome) in 1952.
After visiting a number of museums and artists’ exhibitions in New
York, Boston and Chicago (such as the Museum of Modern Art, the
Metropolitan Museum and the Brooklyn Museum), he expressed
surprise at having found so much European art and so much Amer-
ican art that was derivative of the work of European painters.34 He
was also disappointed to see so much art that was a ‘statement of
a sterile personality’ and so much influence of ‘an artificial way of
life, full of intellectual calculations that were officially inculcated
into the minds of artists during their training’.35 He concluded that
culture of this kind held little that was of value, and grew in his self-
confidence and belief in his own strengths as an Indonesian art-
ist. As such, his commitment to artistic ‘freedom’ was clearly based
on his sense of identity as an Indonesian artist, rather than, as his
ideological opponents would have it, a deracinated and politically
suspect ‘cosmopolitanism’. This was the basis of his involvement
in national cultural life, as General Secretary of the Badan Mus-
jawarat Kebudajaan Nasional (BMKN, Council for Deliberations on
National Culture) in Jakarta between 1956 and 1969 and Head of
the Dewan Kesenian Jakarta (DKJ, Jakarta Arts Council) between
1967 and 1969, the year of his death. It was the same commitment
that he brought to his work as a translator, valuing all literary works,
because the products of creative freedom always served to raise lev-
els of human dignity and the dignity of nations.
33 This letter is part of the collection held by the H.B. Jassin Literary Documentation Centre
in Jakarta.
34 Letter to H.B. Jassin from New York, 5-2-1952, held in the collection of the H.B. Jassin Liter-
ary Documentation Centre, Jakarta.
35 Letter to H.B. Jassin from Chicago, 4-3-52, held in the collection of the H.B. Jassin Literary
Documentation Centre, Jakarta.
180
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
koesalah soebagyo toer (b. 1935)
Koesalah Soebagyo Toer has been actively involved in translation
since 1952, when he was still a student in senior high school. Ini-
tially, he translated solely from English, but in 1963 he began to
produce translations from Russian, and from 1978 until the present
he has also translated from Dutch.
In general, Koesalah has chosen works for translation on his
own initiative, publishing his translations in various magazines,
including Kisah, Merdeka, Pewarta PPK, Brawidjaja and Pemuda. His
serialized translation Nicola Suhaj, penjamun (Nicola Suhaj, a thief),
from a novel by Ivan Olbracht, was published in the newspaper Bin-
tang Timur in 1960. In some cases he has translated works suggested
to him by his brother Pramoedya, or co-translated with Pramoedya,
as in collections of short stories by Tolstoy and Chekhov. The Tol-
stoy collection, entitled Tjerita-tjerita Sebastopol (Sebastopol stories),
was published in Pemuda between February 1956 and June 1957.
The Chekhov collection, which existed of eight stories, was enti-
Koesalah Soebagyo Toer at School 93 in Moscow, attending ‘Indone-
sia Day’ on 9 April 1962. From left to right: I Ketut Sunatera (back), a
student (front), Koesalah Soebagyo Toer, A.G. Lordkipanidze, Rusdi
Harmain, Asahan Aidit, and three students from School 93. (Koesalah
Soebagyo Toer)
181
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
tled Pertaruhan (The wager), and was published by LEKRA in 1960.
After he established a reputation as a translator, various publish-
ers, such as Jajasan Pembaruan, commissioned translations from
him. Apart from the titles just mentioned, his book length transla-
tions include Hari-hari Oktober (October days), from the work of
Nadezhda Krupskaya (Jajasan Pembaruan, 1957), Pemberontakan
dipelabuhan (Revolt in the harbour), a collection of short stories by
Rumanian writer Alexandru Sahia (1960), and Tjerita-tjerita tjinta
(Love stories), a collection of short stories by Lin Yu Tang, which
remained unpublished for unknown reasons.
As a member of one of Indonesia’s most famous literary families,36
Koesalah had access to the literary world through the networks that
Pramoedya was a part of in the early 1950s. In 1952, Pramoedya
set up a literary agency Mimbar Penjiaran DUTA with the aim of
collecting articles on topics dealing with art, literature and culture
and offering them to publishers both in Indonesia and in Singa-
pore/Malaya in the form of a regular bulletin. Koesalah was asked
to become secretary and general administrator of Mimbar Penjiaran
DUTA, while he was still a student in senior high school. This gave
Koesalah valuable experience of the Indonesian publishing world,
because he was assigned to prepare each bulletin and deliver it to
the offices of various magazines and newspapers in Jakarta. The con-
tacts he established through this work facilitated his access to publi-
cation outlets for his own articles and translations.37
Koesalah’s upbringing in a nationalist family that took an active
part in the struggle for independence – he recalls the bitterness
of seeing his family home ransacked and his father humiliated by
Dutch police – strengthened his early commitment to defend the
oppressed and fight against those who oppressed others. Adopting
Soekarno’s view of the contradiction between the forces of revo-
lution (NEFO, New Emerging Forces) and the anti-revolutionary
forces (OLDEFO, Old Established Forces), he identified with those
who fought for revolution and defended the oppressed, which
brought him into line with the socialist world. All his literary trans-
lations were of works from socialist countries, reflecting this com-
mitment. In the introduction to his translation of Alexandru Sahia,
Pemberontakan dipelabuhan, he wrote:
36 Apart from his older brother Pramoedya, Koesalah has two younger brothers who also pub-
lished translations and original writing during the period under discussion. Walujadi Toer’s
translation of a work by Liu Pai Yu, entitled Njala api di hadapan kita (The flames ahead of us)
appeared in Bintang Timur between 19 May and 4 July 1960, while Soesilo Toer published several
short stories in Gelanggang, the cultural section of the magazine Siasat, for instance Menderita
(Suffering) (1952a) dan Pemukul kentong (The gong beater) (1952b).
37 Koesalah S. Toer, written communication, 27-9-2008.
182
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access7 A bridge to the outside world |
As in other countries, in Rumania there are prominent writers who
do not write just to pass the time, but on a much more convincing
basis. Alexandru Sahia, whose short stories are collected here, is
one of those writers. He writes to defend the interests of the people.
[...] Apart from short stories, he also writes essays and articles.
All his work is permeated by a strong conviction concerning
the victory of the ideals of freedom, the victory of the struggle to
eradicate the enslavement of some human beings by others. Sahia
is aware of the negative consequences of the exploitation of work-
ers, whatever their nationality might be. He knows about the miser-
able fate of the peasants. He understands a writer’s duty. For that
reason, his literary works go hand in hand with the desire of the
majority of the people.38
There were also practical reasons why Koesalah confined his
translations to works by writers from socialist countries. Literature
from the countries of Eastern Europe was not bound by copyright,
nor was it subject to the Bern Convention.39 This made it freely
available for translation, bound only by the moral obligation to
spread the principles of socialist revolution. The same held true
for works of Indonesian literature translated into Eastern Euro-
pean languages, because Indonesia was also not a signatory to the
Bern Convention. Another consideration was the price of books.
At the time, books from Western countries were very expensive,
and there were restrictions on their import into Indonesia. For
example, book orders from Britain (which were mainly school
textbooks) had to be made through the British Council, and could
take more than six months to arrive. When books did arrive, they
were marketed through particular bookshops and always sold out
in a very short time.40 The high cost of (producing) books also
38 Seperti negeri2 jang lain, Rumaniapun mempunjai penulis2 terkemuka, jang menu-
lis bukan hanja sekedar iseng, melainkan dengan dasar perdjuangan jang lebih mejakinkan.
Alexandru Sahia jang tjerita2 pendeknja dimuat dalam buku ini, adalah salah seorang penulis
Rumania terkemuka jang menulis untuk membela kepentingan Rakjat […]. Disamping tjerita
pendek, Sahia adalah djuga penulis esei dan artikel.
Sekalian tulisannja mengandung kejakinan jang teguh akan menangnja tjita2 merdeka, menangnja
dalam perdjuangan untuk melenjapkan perbudakan manusia oleh manusia jang lain. Sahia sadar
akan segi buruk daripada penghisapan jang berlaku atas kaum pekerdja, dari kebangsaan apapun
djuga. Iapun tahu akan melaratnja nasib kaum tani. Ia mengerti akan tugas seorang penulis. Karena
itulah maka hasil2 karjanja rapat bergandengan dengan hasrat rakjat jang terbanjak (Sahia 1960:5).
39 International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed in Bern
in 1886.
40 In an interview (Depok, 17-9-2008), Koesalah mentioned the bookshop Pembimbing in Jalan
Kebon Sirih in this connection. Rhoma D.A. Yuliantry and Muhidin Dahlan (2008:452) mention
Pembimbing and Indira as suppliers of books from Western Europe and the United States.
183
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free access| Maya H.T. Liem
meant that books that were translated tended to be short. A trans-
lator had to guard against rejection of manuscripts because of
their length. Pertaruhan, Koesalah’s translation of Chekhov, was
specifically composed of short stories so that its page count would
not be excessive.
As the 1960s approached, the flow of books from Eastern
Europe to Indonesia increased significantly. Koesalah had no
trouble obtaining these books, since between 1958 and 1960 he
worked at the non-government Indonesia-Soviet Cultural Relations
Bureau.41 Many publications from Moscow were sent free of charge
to this organization, which meant that Koesalah had easy access to
books for translation.
In the difficult economic conditions of the time, it was com-
mon for individuals to work at more than one profession at
the same time. Creative writers regularly supplemented their
income working as translators or as magazine or newspaper edi-
tors. In this respect Koesalah was something of an exception,
because apart from writing the occasional short story or essay, he
remained primarily a professional translator. For him, the sup-
plement to his income as a literary translator came from trans-
lating texts of non-fiction. His ideological sympathies led him to
become a part-time translator at the Czechoslovakian Embassy
in Jakarta where, as noted above,42 he translated informational
texts as well as editorials from Indonesian newspapers. No lit-
erary translation was involved, but the experience enriched his
skills as a translator and increased his knowledge of Eastern
Europe.43
His growing familiarity with the countries of Eastern Europe
led Koesalah to take up the study of Russian, first at the Indone-
sian-Soviet Cultural Relations Bureau in 1959. Finally, at the age
of 24, he secured a scholarship to study in Moscow, where he was
a student in the Faculty of History-Philology at the Friendship of
Nations University between 1960 and his graduation in 1965.44
41 See above, note 21.
42 See above, note 16.
43 Koesalah was introduced to the Czechoslovakian Embassy by his friend, the composer Sub-
ronto (also spelt Soebronto) K. Atmodjo, who worked at the embassy as a general assistant.
Koesalah and Subronto were both members of the ‘Gembira’ Song and Dance Ensemble, which
regularly represented Indonesia overseas (see the contribution by Rhoma D.A. Yuliantri in this
volume). It was also Subronto who introduced Koesalah to Rumanian literature, and encour-
aged him to translate the work by Alexandru Sahia discussed above.
44 Koesalah states that between 1960 and 1965 there were 250 Indonesian students who
enrolled at this university. In all, there were around 600 Indonesian students in the Soviet Union
as a whole. Of these, only 30 returned to Indonesia in 1965 (interview, Depok, 17-9-2008). See
also Koesalah Soebagyo Toer 2003.
184
Maya H.T. Liem - 9789004253513
Downloaded from Brill.com02/28/2021 12:04:50PM
via free accessYou can also read
